Half-Life 2 Ravenholm: discover an hour of gameplay from Arkane's canceled project

Half-Life 2

90%

Half-Life 2

Gordon Freeman is brought out of stasis by the G-Man, who inserts him into a train arriving at City 17. After arriving at the station and eluding Combine forces, Gordon joins Lambda resistance members including Barney Calhoun, a former Black Mesa security guard now working undercover as a Combine CP officer, and Alyx Vance, the daughter of one of Gordon's former colleagues, Dr. Eli Vance. After a failed attempt to teleport Gordon to Black Mesa East from Dr. Kleiner's makeshift laboratory, Gordon, re-equipped with the HEV suit and a crowbar, is forced to embark on foot through the city's old canal system. After obtaining an airboat, he battles his way to Black Mesa East, several miles from the city.

Gordon is reintroduced to Eli and meets Dr. Judith Mossman. Alyx introduces Gordon to her large pet robot D0g and gives him a "Gravity Gun", a weapon which allows Gordon to pick up and move any large object with ease. Black Mesa East soon comes under Combine attack and Eli and Mossman are captured to be taken to a Combine prison, Nova Prospekt. Gordon and Alyx are forced to take separate paths to Nova Prospekt; Gordon takes a detour through the town of Ravenholm, receiving help from its last survivor, Father Grigori. After making his way through the town and a mine, Gordon makes his way to a Resistance outpost. Gordon is provided with a Dune Buggy, which he uses to travel along a crumbling coastal road to Nova Prospekt. Along the way, Gordon encounters frequent Combine patrols, and helps one of the resistance leaders, Colonel Odessa Cubbage, to defend a Resistance base from a Combine gunship.

After crossing an antlion-infested beach, Gordon enters Nova Prospekt, where he is reunited with Alyx. They manage to locate Eli, but also discover that Mossman is a Combine informant. Before they can stop her, she teleports herself and Eli back to City 17's Citadel. The Combine teleporter explodes as Gordon and Alyx use it to escape Nova Prospekt.

Upon reaching Kleiner's lab, a shaken Dr. Kleiner reveals to Gordon and Alyx that they were caught in a "slow teleport", during which a week had passed. In their absence, the Resistance, who heard about what had happened at Nova Prospekt, has mobilized against the Combine, turning City 17 into a battleground. During the fighting, Alyx is captured by the Combine and taken to the Citadel, and Gordon fights through the city with the aid of D0g and Barney to reach it. Inside the Citadel, he is caught in a Combine confiscation chamber that destroys all of his weapons except for the Gravity Gun, the energy enhancing its capabilities and allowing Gordon to escape and dispatch platoons of Combine soldiers.

Eventually, Gordon is captured riding in a Combine transport pod and is taken to Dr. Breen's office, where he and Dr. Mossman are waiting with Eli and Alyx in captivity. Dr. Breen begins to explain his plans for further conquest of the humans by the Combine, contrary to what he had told Dr. Mossman. Angered, Mossman frees Gordon, Alyx, and Eli before Breen teleports them off-world. Dr. Breen tries to escape through a portal, but Gordon pursues him and destroys the portal reactor with the super-charged Gravity Gun. Breen appears to be annihilated in the resulting explosion.

Just before Gordon and Alyx are presumably met with a similar fate, time is frozen. The G-Man reappears, praising Gordon for his actions in City 17 and the Citadel. Making vague mention of "offers for [Gordon's] services", the G-Man places him back into stasis.

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Half-Life 2 Ravenholm: discover an hour of gameplay from Arkane's canceled project

You may know this, but before blowing our minds with Dishonored or turning our heads with Deathloop , Arkane was working on a Half-Life game . In particular, on a game taking place in Ravenholm, the fallen city located on the outskirts of City-17.

Despite three years of work between 2005 and 2008, the project was finally buried by Valve. But tongues are starting to loosen up. Following a documentary dating from 2020, in which NoClip retraced Arkane's journey, the channel returns with a new video entirely dedicated to this famous "  Half-Life Ravenholm  ".

Father Grigori is going to war

The mere mention of Ravenholm is enough to bring back very bad memories to the most arachnophobic among us. However, it is of course a game taking place entirely in the cursed city that Arkane was working on.

Obviously horrifying, this spin-off would have granted a more important role to Father Grigori, who is of great help to us during our crossing of Ravenholm in Half-Life 2 . 

Of course, the game would also have allowed us to explore the city more, meet new NPCs and face new enemies (please no).

An exciting dive in time therefore, which must however be considered as an indiscreet look at a game which was never finished and which therefore lacks a lot of fine-tuning.

The textures are coarse, the mechanical animations and the dubbing absolutely not finalized. Still, for fans, this kind of nuggets will easily find its place in their collection of links.

Is Half-Life 2 a good video game?

Yes Half-Life 2 is a great video game, we are proud to have given it a rating of 90%. Any good gamer must have played Half-Life 2 at least once in his life, we can even fully consider it as one of the best games of the genre! In short, it is a must and you must try it if you have the opportunity!

Can I play Half-Life 2 with my friends?

No, as far as we know, there is no multiplayer mode for Half-Life 2, you'll have to lend the controller to each other and take turns playing! We hope that a multiplayer mode will be available thanks to a next update, a remake or even a sequel, who knows!

Is Half-Life 2 available on multiple platforms?

Yes, the game Half-Life 2 is developed to be compatible with PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 3, Android, Linux, Xbox 360 and Xbox. It's quite handy to be able to play it on several different consoles, thanks to the Valve Corporation development studio!

Is Half-Life 2 a recent game?

No, Half-Life 2 is not a recent game, it was launched in most regions on Nov 16th 2004, 20 years 5 days ago.
Half-Life 2 has been released on PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 3, Android, Linux, Xbox 360 and Xbox.

Is there an official website for Half-Life 2?

Yes Half-Life 2 has its own official website! You can find it by clicking here.

Is there a forum on the internet to discuss the game Half-Life 2?

Yes there is a website where Half-Life 2 fans can meet to discuss and exchange content, tips and advice on the game. It's on the Reddit website and you can find this Subreddit by clicking here.

Is Half-Life 2 compatible with VR?

No, Half-Life 2 is not currently compatible with virtual reality, but we hope that one day it will be possible to play it with this new technology!

Does the game Half-Life 2 have other names around the world?

Yes, the game is also known by these names around the world:
HL 2 (Acronym)
HL2 (Acronym)
Half Life 2 (Alternative spelling)
HL2 (Other Alias)

What are similar games to Half-Life 2?

Half-Life 2 is a game similar to Portal 2, Half-Life, Crysis 2, Get Even, Hurtworld, Metro Exodus, Area 51, Immortal: Unchained, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and The Outer Worlds, if you liked Half-Life 2, you will surely love this list of games we just mentioned! You can find our dedicated portals by clicking on the name of the games, and make your own opinion very quickly!